Maid Abuse

August 28, 2010 (AFP) – A Sri Lankan maid recovering from surgery to remove 19 nails from her body told doctors her Saudi employer heated the nails and hammered them into her body, an official said Saturday. Surgeons at Sri Lanka’s southern Kamburupitiya hospital removed 19 out of a total of 24 nails — some two-inches (five-centimetres) long — and a needle that were in her arms, legs and forehead during a three-hour operation.

Hospital director Prabath Gajadeera said L.T. Ariyawathi, 49, told them her Saudi employer inflicted the injuries on her as a punishment because she found it difficult to communicate with those in the household.

“She said her employer heated the nails and then hammered them into her body,” Gajadeera told AFP. “The nails were in her arms, legs and forehead.”

He said the woman could not have driven the nails herself.

“It is clear someone else had to drive in the nails,” he said. “We will in any case refer her to a psychiatrist for analysis before discharging her from hospital.”

She was admitted to hospital last weekend after returning home complaining she was in great pain and unable to walk.

Surgeons at the hospital removed 13 big nails, each t

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